Building It Green in BerkeleyA new housing development near downtown has the potential to be the largest green project of its kind in city history. Plus, Sungevity's lease-a-solar-system blasts off.By Robert Gammon

Environmentalists increasingly realize that one of the most effective ways to fight global warming is to build dense housing developments near major transit corridors. And Berkeley has taken another step in that direction with the recent approval of Parker Place development on Shattuck Avenue, just south of downtown. The CityCentric Investments project will include five-story buildings and 155 condos and apartments and will house 300 to 350 people. It's also directly on AC Transit lines and just a short walk from the downtown and Ashby BART stations.